Most desktop icons can simply be dragged to the Recycle Bin. However, there are certain ones (such as internet explorer) which this doesn't work for.

To remove these icons from the desktop, right click on an empty portion of your desktop and go to properties. The display properties window will open up. Click the desktop tab, and then the Customize Desktop button.

Thank you, but that won't work for me. There is no Desktop tab under properties on my pc. I am running Windows 2000 pro. I can change the Network Neighborhood and My Computer icons under the Effects tab but can't remove, them and the Internet Explorer icon is not listed there at all.

I searched around and found the answer over at http://forums.techguy.org and thought I'd post it here in case anyone else wanted to know. It was very easy.

Open IE, and choose Internet Options from the Tools menu. Click the Advanced tab, and look for the last item under the category Browsing. Clear the checkbox next to "Show Internet Explorer on the Desktop," then click OK (or Apply, then OK).

BTW, when I checked, there WASN'T a check in the box even though I had the icon on the desktop. So I checked the box, hit Apply, then unchecked it and hit Apply again and it got rid of the icon. I'm happy now. :)

I'm proceeding "deIEnization" to my company's computers and I've found a way to remove IE icon from desktop to ALL users in WinNT platforms. I think I should share it with everybody, though Mr Gates might not be happy :cheesy:

All is needed is to change (or add) the following registry value:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\Explorer]
"NoInternetIcon"=dword:00000001

The above line is actually copied from an exported reg file because it's in this way that I'm removing quickly IE from a lot of machines.

The method is tested in WinKK, XP and Win Server 2003 and confirmed to work. It'll probably also work for the coming Win Vista.

There're a few things that I don't know how to do though:
1. Remove ALL IE icons from every user's Start menu. This icon isn't shared between users so it can't be found in "All Users" profile. This icon is created when a new profile is created, but it's not found in "Default User" profile!

2. Remove ALL IE shortcuts in "Quick Launch" bar. Once again this icon is created at the creation of new profile, but it's not found in "Default User".

If I could find answers to these two questions, my "deIEnization" could be accomplished to the fullness :p

Your method is only good in old, single-user environment. In multi-user machines, if you want to uniformize everything, you can't just simply login as every individual user, provided you could do so, and delete the IE icon from their desktop. This is just too unprofessional.

I have an IE folder that acts like a Windows Explorer on my Desktop. I cannot remove it because I only have the read permission. And it won't let me change the permissions. This icon is useless since it doesn't open IE and is annoying. I have tried all the usual ideas and none work. I think because I only have read permission.